Stubborn Fear

[Leon 'Judas' Magnus]

Violet eyes darked left and right as Sodia slowly made her way across the deck of the infamous 'Atherum' ghost ship. Every few minutes, an odd moaning or a creaking of a board beneath her feet would cause her to jump and spin around, clutching the hand of her sword tightly, ready to draw it at the drop of a pin. A shaky sigh of relief would escape her lips when she realized nothing was there, and she'd turn, continuing her exploration of the ship.

"Why did I agree to this...?" she muttered softly to herself as she stared at the door that would lead her to the lower parts of the ship. "There isn't anything here... I'm sure of it. They were just rumors that someone was taking base here..." Weren't they? I don't have reason to be here... but...

"Sodia, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but I've been hearing reports that a group of vigilante's has taken the ghost ship, Atherum, as their base. I wouldn't answer to such a rumor if I didn't know for a fact that this ship was real and running. Yuri explored it once himself and said he hadn't seen anything unexpected for a ship of it's condition, but I'd like to have this investigated. The rumors haven't stopped, and I've too much paperwork, patrols and training sessions with new recruits, or I'd go myself. Witcher is getting ready to leave for Nor Harbor to get information then travel to Torim for more... Can you please do this for me?"

"That's right..." Sodia muttered, "The Captain asked this of me... that's why I'm here..." Reaching out, she grabbed the rusted handle of the ship's door. "...But why the hell am I on the ghost ship?! Why couldn't I have gone to the harbor and Witcher could look around this stupid ship?" Just get over it... she told herself, This is for the Captain...Yes, for the Captain...There's nothing to be scared of anyway, I'm acting like a child.

As she turned the handle of the door, a noise of creaking boards sounded to her right and she turned, throwing out her sword as she tried to attack whoever, or whatever was there.

[Lunch]

(*invades*
KAY, SO I TOOK LIKE TWO SECONDS AS TO THINK OF WHY RITA WAS ON THE BOAT.
DUN KILL ME. D8>)

Rita grumbled incoherently, why was she on this blasted thing again?! Sitting down on moldy, worn out stairs, she pondered about who she should kill first when they come back to get her,"The Old Man's definitely dead first, then the kid, then the Dragon Freak, then that mutt and his owner..Then Estelle. They're so gonna regret that they ever made me come back to this place!" She couldn't believe them! How could they leave her on this thing /alone/?! They should've at least let the Old Man tag along, so she had someone to kill to appease her anger! She couldn't even believe that Estelle of all people had also beckoned her to stay on this rotting, dusty, smelly, dirty ship! Estelle! They were all going to pay.
Big.
Time.

Jumping up at some sudden creaking, Rita readily started casting Fireball, only to stop when her vision came across nothing. Sighing, she decided it wasn't smart to stay in one place. The floor could suddenly break, causing her to fall down, down, down while crashing through the bottom of the boat, her dress getting stuck, causing her to stay face-down in the water and drown. Shaking her head, Rita stalked to the nearest door, freezing at the sound of another person's voice. "A...a ghost?! No, Rita, get ahold of yourself! There aren't such things as ghosts! They're a myth, a fairytale, a figment of the imagination!" reassuring herself, Rita quickly opened the door, surprised that it didn't squeak like all the others.

What was left of the doorframe, she poked her head out, to see one of Flynn's knight's muttering to herself. "Isn't that...that Sodia chick?" Rita frowned, somehow tripping over her own feet..."walking" into the hallway, causing immensive groans and creaks from the floorboards. "It felt like..something was pushing my back.." Rita shuddered, before turning her attention to the knight, that had unsheathed her sword. In a quick flash, Rita readied her Fireballs, just to make things look even.

(WTF WAS THAT LOL.
I SUCK. XD)

[Leon 'Judas' Magnus]

((OMG OMG OMG KIIIIILLLL! *runs after you with a machete*))

"What the-?" Sodia frowned slightly, eying the girl in front of her oddly. I remember her, the age from Aspio that refused to help us. Her name was... Mordio, Rita Mordio.... Witcher didn't like her much.

"You're one of Lowell's friends." It came out as a fact as Sodia nodded to herself, lowering her sword slightly, raising an eyebrow as the other stood ready to cast magic at the drop of a pin.

"I'd calm down if I were you," Sodia shrugged, "If you hadn't noticed, this ship if made of wood. Very, very old wood. If you go around carelessly casting magic, you'll set the whole thing ablaze and neither of us will ever make it off."

Sheathing her sword, Sodia sheathed her blade, sighing in annoyance.

"So what are you doing here anyway, Mordio?"

((Sorry it's so short.... *lame*))

[Lunch]

(AAAACK! D8> *hides in bomsheltercorner*
YOU CAN'T GET ME NOW
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA >8D)

"Well, if you don't want me to burn us both alive, don't whip out your sword like it's some play-thing! I mean, jeeze, it's called self-defense when someone points a sharp and lethal weapon at you!" Rita steadily lowered her magic, until the circle underneath her disappeared. Corssing her arms, she tapped her foot impatiently glaring at the other.

"I can ask the same thing about you." She pointed out, suddenly growing bored. "But since you asked, let's just say an old man is gonna get an ass kicking, and leave it at that." waving her hand, she started walking off. To be honest, she really would like the company, but staying there and having small-chat was really something she didn't feel like doing at the moment.

She just wanted to rip some heads off.

(SORRY THAT MINES SHORTER. XD;
BRAINDEEEAAADDD)

[Leon 'Judas' Magnus]

((...*busts down the door to the bomb-shelter Zagi style* LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCH! *dives and flails around swords*))

"I'm here on personal orders from the Commandant himself." Sodia said it in tone that held a tone of pride to it, like receiving orders directly from the blond knight was some form of great honor. And in a sense, it was, but as his second-in-command, one would assume that getting orders from him verbally was fairly normal, as she had gotten them ever since she did rise to the position.

A small frown crossed her features as something that Rita said repeated itself in her mind, and a feeling of dread and utmost annoyance filled her mind.

"Wait a moment... you said, 'old man'... Then you must mean Captain Schwann... and if you mean Schwann... then..." her eyes narrowed, her voice taking a slight tone of distaste. "That means Yuri Lowell is here..." Great, just great... I thought I'd finally be able to on a mission without running into him, and he has to go and ruin it for me again.

Needless to say, Sodia was not happy about this matter. It was very true, that she had calmed down about Yuri since a certain run-in in Zaude, but it didn't change the fact that she didn't like him much. At all. Who was he to steal all the Commandant's attention?

It was like the name was some sort of spell. If anyone mentioned the 'criminal' or if anything reminded the Commandant of Yuri, for the next several hours it would be the only subject of conversation anyone could actually get out of the head knight and heaven forbid he run into Yuri, because then everything went down the drain and it'd be the only thing the Commandant would care about.

Yuri Lowell, Yuri Lowell, Yuri Lowell... No matter where I go I can't escape him! Sodia thought bitterly as he continued to stare at the mage in front of him. Why do so many people like a criminal like him? Even the Commandant! He adores Yuri! I know they're childhood friends, but no man would ever care so damn much about just a friend!

[Lunch]

(
Omg lol.
I found you wrote a couple of Vesperia stories on FF.net. 8D
BE THANKFUL.
I EMAILED THAT SECTION TO THEM LOL.
I just forgot to put Adecor and Boccos in the list of charas. D:)

Rita sighed, stopping her little walk as the knight spoke,"Honestly, she sounds all high-and-mighty." shaking her head, she turned to look at the other, continuing her pose from before. Arms crossed, foot tapping away at the floor impatiently.

"You don't have to flatter yourself, I mean, it's not like your Commandant sent you here to get a reward, or some surprise party or anything. He's just making you do his dirty work for him." shrugging, she continued to tap her foot in a rythmic beat. As Sodia started rambling on about Ravem and Yuri, Rita could only raise an eyebrow. What exactly did the knight have against Yuri? It's not like she knew the man like Repede or the others did.

"She seems very fond of that Flynn guy....so.....judging by the way they both act whenever Yuri's around...she must be jealous! Hah, I don't think she has a high-chance in Hell to get hitched with her 'perfect' Commandant, he probably only thinks of her as a doormat." stopping her foot, Rita now started tapping her fingers along her arms. She smirked, only imagining what random, Yuri-hate filled thoughts might be going through the knight's head. Ah, what should she do? Tell Sodia that Yuri isn't on the ghost ship, or let her suffer?

A sudden gust of cold wind brushed past the mage, causing her to slightly shiver."Old man...when I get off this thing, YOU. ARE. DEAD."

[Leon 'Judas' Magnus]

((Whoa really?
83 I've already posted stuffs and I e-mailed them myself about it a while back XD I wonder if we had an influence on it...))

Sodia's eyes narrowed as Rita implied that Flynn had only sent her to do his dirty work. Her temper flared and she stepped forward, reaching for her sword again.

"Shut up!" she snapped, giving the nastiest glare she could manage. "You know nothing about the Captain! He's busy! Very busy! Unlike you he holds a very important position. With being commandant comes a lot of work, and you'd do well to show a superior to you respect! He could easily have you arrested! All he would have to do is give the order and it wouldn't matter if you were actually innocent or n-"

Sodia's protests fell silent as the wind picked up, and she shivered without meaning to, her eyes darting around the deck of the ship once more.

"A-anyway! I have work to do! Unlike you, at least I'm here for a reason and not wondering around like a fool. You're just like Lowell." Turning back to the door she'd previously tried to enter, she threw it open, storming inside.

She'd only taken a few steps in, when the floorboards under her cracked and gave way. She stayed there, seemingly floating for several seconds before she plummeted downward, letting out a terrified scream, as if she'd just been attacked.

[Lunch]

(You did too? 8D
Lol, but did you mail them a chara list?
I see my list crystal clear when I check. XD *stabbed*
I BET WE DID.
AH BET WEE DIIIIDDD.
GOOD TIMES.
GOOOOOOD TIMES
*stabbed again*)

The knight's glare was nothing she couldn't handle, if anything, she found Repede's rear-end more frightening than the other's gaze. Rita noticed the knight shiver, and couldn't help but smirk before replying to her comments,"Arrest me? Puh-lease, how can I get arrested for speaking words he hasn't even heard? And what kind of work exactly does he do, when he can just get other people to do it for him?" she sneered, leaning forward with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, also, I thought knights were supposed to protect civilians, and not threaten them with arrest?" she frowned when Sodia compared her to Yuri, but the knight couldn't see it, as she had just stormed off into the room closest to her. "I'm not wondering around like a fool! I'm not here because I want to be!" her inner-self screamed, moments before an actual scream rang out.

Rita sighed, running into the room where the knight had just entered, gasping as she tripped over the large hole very close to the doorway...Well, she didn't technically trip...more like...fall in the hole and grab onto the floorboards on the other side before she fell completely. "I swear...if I die here, I will haunt you for the REST OF YOUR LIFE OLD MAN!! And when you die, I WILL KILL YOU IN THE AFTERLIFE!!" underneath the cursing reeling through her mind, she was silently praying that her supporting floorboards would stay supportive.

....Now, why had she come into the room again?..Oh, yeah! Knight girl! Reaching one of her hands down, she gripped onto something soft...most likely the knight's hair or something..."....Wait. How am I holding her by the hair...and her hair isn't ripping?" she turned slightly green, thinking of endless possibilties of what it could be. Maybe it was...part of the uniform...that felt like hair..? Struggling to keep on the floorboards with just one arm, Rita called down to the other,"Nice way to make a gaping hole in the floor, genius!"

(LOL. Idunno what this post is. I'm...tired and braindead XD Oh, and Rita like grabs (hopefully LOL) Sodia two seconds after she falls in herself. Rita can think thoughts about killing the old man rather quickly. *SHOT* Or, if you want me to change this post, I can. XD)

[Leon 'Judas' Magnus]

((Hahaha, we made a change on fanfiction.net!!! Woot! We got the powa n' stuff. Woot. I've posted a lot of stuff there...
You should go look at it and leave me reviews.
Please?))

A soft groan escaped Sodia's lips as her fall as suddenly stopped short. She felt someone tugging at her clothing and she craned her neck to see if she'd gotten stuck, or if someone had grabbed her. But the only other 'someone' on this ship is...

"Why are you-" she cut off suddenly as a soft ripping noise filled her ears. She felt her heart plummet again as she looked at her chest. The leather straps that held on her metallic armor were starting to rip, and at this point, they only looked like they would last a few seconds.

The problem wasn't that Sodia herself weighed a lot. No, that wasn't the problem at all, and she'd probably give whoever suggested the idea a piece of her mind. The straps were already well worn from so many battles, and it just so happened now, supporting her full weight, was the straw that broke the camel's back.

There was a particularly loud,

"Rrrrrrriiiiiiiiip!" And Sodia screamed as she fell again, shutting her eyes as she prayed for dear life.

"I don't want to die..." she muttered softly, before her body connected with something solid and everything went black and a crashing noise echoed upward towards the fuming mage.

((D8 Oh noez.... she falled anyway.
Whatever shall we do?! O_O))

[Lunch]

(I shall look and leave a review...once I remember an account email LOL. I have like, so many emails, I dunno which one I used for an account there. XD; ...Owait, I think I made a new account a couple of days ago, so. XD;)

Seething when the fabric ripped, and an ear-piercing shriek and crashing sounds followed after, Rita could barely hang onto the floorboards. When Sodia fell, it felt as if something was...weighing the mage down. Gulping, she looked down into the hole, her wandering emerald eyes met by absolute darkness.

"Are...are you alright?!" she called shakily, hoping for an answer. Although, she didn't know why she was hoping for the other to call back, it's not like they knew each other and were the best of friends that had sleepovers and talked about boys and braided each other's hair...But Sodia's hair was already braided and Rita didn't have enough hair to braid. When a sudden creak filled the air, Rita managed to scream as her floorboard shifted downwards, barely hanging onto the rest of the supporting floor. Quickly, she swung her arms around the board, and flailed her legs, trying to get a better grip.

Rita learned something new today.

Her mind tends to freak while on a Ghost Ship and she's clinging onto a rotting, moldy floorboard that will lead her to her death in a black abyss underneath her if it fails to support her weight anymore.

"I'llkillyouoldmanI'llkillyouoldmanI'llkillyouoldman..." she cursed, shutting her eyes tightly as her fingers grew numb from the deathgrip she had on the board. Another cold breeze passed by and the mage hugged her rotting, moldly lifeline for..well..dear life. She didn't know what to do! Save herself, or help out Knight Girl?

The ship seemed to answer her unspoken question as her floorboard snapped off the rest of the floor. Yelping, Rita let go of the board preparing herself for death as she fell backwards. Groaning when she landed on something that only seemed to support her middle, she carefully rolled onto her stomach, feeling like she was that cat in those motivational posters saying,"Hang in there!".

She blinked multiple times, hearing the thumps of the floorboard as it continued to fall. Looking down, Rita could barely see the fuzzy outline of Sodia...or, she hoped it was Sodia.

(WE SHALL WATCH AS RITA FALLS.
AND THEN WE SHALL GRAB SOME POPCORN.
AND THINK OF HOW THEY SHALL GET OUT OF THIS PREDICAMENT. 8P *SHOT*)

[Leon 'Judas' Magnus]

((...O.o That many e-mails? Wow... O_O I just have Firefox save the password n stuff myself.

A soft moan escaped Sodia's lips. Rolling over slowly, she blinked, looking at the dark shape that she had assumed was Rita. She winced as she slowly sat up, hugging her left arm close to herself. D-damn it... that hurt.

Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes as she tried to blink away the pain, stubbornly biting her lip to keep from yelping in pain. Damn... I think I broke it... what am I going to tell the captain?!

Sighing softly, she slowly raised to her feet, wincing slightly. My ankle too... ow... damn... Leaning against the wall next to her, Sodia glanced over at Rita, triyng to hide the pain etched across her face.

"H-hey... are you alright?" she hugged her arm tighter to herself, "That...was a nasty fall..."

((Hahaha. They fell >8D
That was epic dude. Epic. Now they'll suffer...))

[Lunch]

(Lol well.....I use IE. XD)

Opening her mouth to reply to the knight, a yelp came out of her mouth instead as her last support broke, causing the mage to fall the rest of the way down to Sodia's level. She tried to position herself so no limbs would be broken when she landed, but that was futile when she leaned on her leg and heard a definite snap. Landing on her face with a thump, Rita cursed rapidly, lifting herself off the floor as much as she could, before she realized her left leg was completely numb.

"Oh, I'm just peachy," the mage couldn't help but be sarcastic, she was downright pissed off,"I'm so happy and filled with joy, I could bleed rainbows!"

Seething, she tried to get herself in a sitting position, and somehow managed to after a couple of minutes. Running her fingers down her numb leg, Rita could clearly tell where the bones had snapped. Sighing, she stared wearily at Sodia, barely able to see the other's face even though they were pretty close. Rita could clearly see the pain on the knight's face, but said nothing about it.

"Are there any other knights onboard that may just come across that gaping hole above, while we yell for help and save us, or are we pretty much screwed?" she questioned, staring up at the weak light filtering from the candles above.

(Yesss.
Suffer time, ohohohoho.)

[Leon 'Judas' Magnus]

((IE?! *points* FAIL!!!
YOU HAVE LOST THE GAME! D8<))

"Find us?" Sodia repeated, laughing dryly. "The chance is almost zero." Leaning against a banister next to her, the female knight slowly slide down the wooden pole, allowing herself to fall on the floor with a soft 'fwump' in a sitting position.

"I came here alone... it was a solo mission. I have no backup, because it wasn't supposed to be needed. I was only to be checking rumors then reporting back to the captain." I was probably expected almost an hour ago, now that I think about it.

"The best I can hope for..." Sodia trailed off, obviously not pleased with the conclusion she'd come to, but she couldn't think of another. Who else could help them? She had no way of communication, only a small handful of people even knew she was here and sending up a flare in a ship of rotting wood was as good as taking her sword to her throat and slicing.

"...is that someone will notice I didn't come back and alert the captain. Then he would either send someone to see why I hadn't or come himself... and I'd rather it not be the former." I can't let the captain see me like this... I'm a knight I'm supposed to be stronger then this! The Captain walked over a mile on a broken leg once and he never got any help at all so why...why can't I do the same?! Why can't I be stronger for him... Tch... if I was just more like him....

((Uwa... I feel kinda bad for them now. Sodia has a broken ankle, arm and dislocated shoulder, and Rita's got a broken leg.
...much fun, I'm sure.))

[Lunch]

(WELL YOU JUST LOST THE GAME TOO, BY SAYIN I LOST THE GAME, SO HAH. >8C
I did have Firefox once, but then it was going really slow up to the point where it didn't load anything, and IE worked fine, so I baleeted it. XD)

"Well, isn't that just perfect?" Rita scowled, bringing her head down and pinching the bridge of her nose. She doubted that the old man..and probably the Dragon Freak...were going to allow the others to come get her so soon,"Oooh, I swear..."

Cutting her sentence short, Rita tried her best to calm herself down. She didn't want to end up bringing the (already there) frustration to a higher level, causing the two girls to start clawing at each others throats. They needed to think logically if they wanted to survive, or hope that either Yuri and everyone would find them, or Flynn...or another knight. Blinking blankly, the mage started wondering exactly how far they fell. Were they at the bottom of the ship? The hole up above was pretty high up...would anybody even be able to save them if they wanted to?

Giving herself a mental kick in the rear, Rita reminded herself that she had to think logically...and hope for the best...but more logic. Rita liked logic. Oh jeeze, was she already starting to lose her mind?!

Staring at the knight, the mage couldn't help but add her little part of misery,"I don't believe we'll be getting much luck in getting rescued by my group. The old man is probably forcing everyone to make me stay here longer...not that I have much choice anyway, since we are pretty far down. Whether it was your perfect Commandant, or Yuri and everyone, I'm sure they would all have trouble figuring out how to get us out of here."

Rita blinked mutliple times again and again, before mentally kicking herself once more. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!!...So much for thinking logically, Rita."

(loool, I was thinkin of giving Rita a concussion or a broken nose, but then I was all,"Naaaah, they're gonna be suffering so much anyway." XD
And sorry if this post is a bit...weird. XD
COLD'S WILL DO THAT TO YA LOL)

[Leon 'Judas' Magnus]

((I did not. D8 I've WON the game because you lost the game because we were the only two PLAYING the game.
SO HA!))

Sodia's eyes narrowed slightly as she gave Rita an annoyed glare.

"Don't talk about the Commandant like that!" she snapped, "He's much more perfect then you'll ever be and he's going to find us and help us! No matter what you think, just wait and see!" Although, as much confidence as she had in 'her' dear Flynn, she couldn't help but think Rita had a point when she said it would be hard for anyone to find a way down to rescue them.

Sighing, the female knight looked around, trying to find some sort of positive means to the situation. Grabbing a large block of wood off the ground, she muttered a soft spell under her breath and the tip of the wood ignited.

Using it as a torch of sorts, the redhead looked around the area, trying to find something, anything that might help them get out of their current situation.

"...there has to be something down here..."

((Sorry for the delay... and the short-ness T___T I know, I'm lame... forgive meeeeeeeeeeeeee))